Toledo Chamber Blog

​Frank and Amanda Viviano moved back to the Toledo Region from San Diego in 2015 to get involved with the family business, Bartz Viviano Flowers and Gifts, Inc. With stores located in Toledo and Oregon, the Vivianos are excited to join the family business, which has been serving the region since 1964.Both Amanda and Frank are actively involved in EPIC Toledo and have been since early 2016. They believe that EPIC Toledo plays a vital role in shaping the Toledo Region and they are proud to support the organization and be a part of the forward thinking energy in Toledo.

“After attending one of the social events in early 2016, we realized that EPIC was a great organization for not only networking, but also an organization that helps cultivate relationships and friendships among like-minded young professionals.”The Vivianos also believe that retaining great talent in the Toledo Region is critical to the success of Toledo’s future. They would like to inspire others like themselves to come back to the area to put down roots.“The passion everyone in EPIC shares for the Toledo community is inspiring and encouraging,” says Frank. “We believe that Toledo has great growth potential, but we need to find a way to maintain more of the talent that grows up here. We often lose our best and brightest to cities with more economic and social opportunities, but that doesn’t need to happen. EPIC can play a vital role in shaping our city, we are proud to support the organization and be part of leading Toledo into a new stage of development.” This past winter, the Vivianos both served on the EPIC Toledo Birthday Bash Committee. They were a part of the group of young professionals that helped bring together more than 15 small businesses in the Toledo Region to host an event for more than 500 young professionals in downtown Toledo. 2017 marks 10 years of EPIC Toledo programming created to attract and retain phenomenal young talent in our community.“Serving on the EPIC Toledo Birthday Bash Committee was a great experience. We really enjoy event planning at Bartz Viviano and loved being a part of the planning and decorations,” Amanda shared. “We understand that volunteering your time can be just as important as economic contributions, and we are happy to support EPIC any way that we can.”

​The Vivianos have also used their involvement in EPIC Toledo to help further their mission for Bartz Viviano. By providing exclusive EPIC Toledo member discounts and prizes at EPIC events, they have been able to show the young professional community their commitment to the area and also display their personal style. After just a few short years back in Toledo, Frank and Amanda will be joining the ranks of a younger generation that has risen up in Toledo to take leadership roles in their companies. In 2017, Frank will be transitioning into an ownership role with Bartz Viviano. He and Amanda are very excited about the future and look forward to putting their stamp (and some of their style) on the business. When asked about the talent within their workforce, Frank and Amanda couldn’t have had more positive things to share. “We are extremely lucky to have an experienced and professional staff in place that allows us to execute just about anything a customer can dream up and we are excited to start evolving some of our everyday offerings.” Frank and Amanda look forward to carrying on the Bartz Viviano tradition. With more than fifty years of history propelling them to the future, the pair is excited to be part of what is to come for the floral & events space and are proud to be leaders in the industry.“Flowers hold such a special place in people’s hearts and can be used to express so many sentiments. Whether it's comfort to a grieving family or love on an anniversary, we are grateful to be part of all of life's special moments. We are very fortunate to be able to lead a business with such a strong history in Toledo, and look forward to bringing our products and services to new heights.”

Emily Dammeyer is the Communications Manager at the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce. She has prior volunteer and work experience in community outreach and communication. She has also worked in membership retention, sponsor management and fulfillment, and program development.